Category: GUEST BLOGS

You can never know where technology will rear its head. Most of the time it is based on the future, but many times it can be based on our past. This week, I proudly turn my blog over to Professor Ima Pharceur, PhD. Professor Pharceur is the noted Chief Research Scientist at the world-class Social Media Communications and Information Sharing Institute of Technology (SMCISIT for short) in Brussels, Belgium.

Next Generation Citizen Band Emergency Services

There is no doubt that Social Media is deeply embedded in our daily lives today, however, it’s roots can be traced back to a Social Media craze that was popular 4 decades ago in the mid-70’s. Millions of people all over the country, and the world installed small, low powered two-way radio transmitters in their cars to talk to each other, converse with over the road truckers, and report emergencies to teams of dedicated people and police agencies monitoring CB Channel ‘9’, the official Emergency Hailing Frequency for the Citizen Band Radio Communications and Information Radio Relay System, or CBRCIRRS for short.

The Federal Communications Commission established Citizen Band Radios as a core system of low powered short-distance radio communications between endpoints on the same channel within the possible 40 channels that all exist in the 27 MHz (11 m) band.

This frequency range is distinct and separate from the existing Family Radio System (FRS), General Mobile Radio System (GMRS), Multi Use Radio System (MURS), and Amateur Radio Service commonly known as “ham” radio systems.

Unlike it’s more powerful cousins the Ham Radio, operation often does not require a license, and it may be used for both business or personal communications, and refrigeration is not required as with most Ham products. Since the frequencies, better known as channels, are open in nature, any user can share the channel in a simplex type of operation. This means that while one station transmits; other stations listen and wait for the channel to be available.

Initially, 23 channels were assigned by the FCC, however due to popularity in the late 70’s and 80’s, a massive increase in use was seen, and the FCC allocated and additional 17 frequencies, bringing the total to 40. To remain backward compatible with radios already in place, Channel ‘9’ remained as the designated emergency channel.

Today, with Next Generation Emergency Services on the cusp of deployment across the US, and with 3.5 Million professional truckers on the road in the US, that is potentially 14 Million individual eyes or ears that are keeping watch over every quarter square mile if distributed evenly.

With most radios in use today being digital in nature, the addition of a new additional channel, specifically designed for NG911 usage is a simple low-cost addition to nearly any radio transmitter. In an effort not to ‘step on’ existing communities and their usage of the existing public airways, this new technology, patented by the SMC Institute, uses a new Bi-Polar Wave Guide Induction Ionosphere Relay Circuit or B-PWIIRC for short, to create a new dynamic frequency waveguide that is capable of transmitting information at speeds equaling 100 Gbs, which is perfect for voice, video, text, email, IM, Internet Relay Chat, TTY-TDD, and Morse Code, making it 100% backwards compatible with technology.

This very well may be the thing that brings corporations like RadioShack and Syosset, NY-based Lafayette Electronics back into business, and there are rumors that the estate of ‘Crazy’ Eddie Antar is interested in setting up mobile sales venues in Truck Stops and Shopping Malls across the northeast.

Next Generation Emergency Services expert Mark J. Fletcher, ENP from Avaya was quoted as saying, “I’ve run the numbers myself, and what they are claiming seems to work out, mathematically speaking. Obviously, rigorous interoperability testing will be required.” Fletcher added that he see’s several uses for the product, like summoning local drones and passing truckers to emergent events, because they “usually carry band-aids, and many times are armed.”

The system is only compatible with 911 solutions today, but being digitally based, there are already models on the drawing board for 112 and 999 solutions in the UK and Europe. With the 3D printing capabilities that exist now, anything that is on the drawing board is a real possibility.

Thanks to Doctor Pharceur for his tireless work on this topic, and I hope that he keeps the hammer down, and things are clean and green as he brings this technology to fruition. Happy April 1st everyone!

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. As a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of service, he directs the strategic roadmap for Next Generation Emergency Services in both the Enterprise and Government portfolios at Avaya. In 2014, Fletcher was made a member of the NENA Institute Board in the US, in 2014 – 2015 he served as co-chair of the EENA NG112 Committee in the European Union, providing valuable insight to State and Federal legislators globally driving forward both innovation and compliance.

While I enjoy writing and producing content, I am also an avid consumer of the content. When I read an exceptionally good piece that hit’s home, I like to repost them to my Blog, so my regular readers get exposure to it. One fellow colleague in the industry that I have known for several years now is Todd Piett of Rave Mobile Safety. This week, Todd writes about legacies and passing them on. Something that I very much agree on.

Fletch

Guest Blog: Todd Piett – Rave Mobile Safety

While traveling to Las Vegas for a conference I sat near a pair of fathers and their sons in the airport terminal. The fathers were coaching their (adult) sons on the nuances of winning at blackjack – their winning formula. For some reason, this got me to thinking about what legacy we pass on – not just to our children, but those we work with and for.

Those who have chosen 9-1-1 as a career have a unique legacy. They have chosen to work in a job of self-sacrifice. Frankly, the financial rewards aren’t commensurate with the sacrifice of family and emotional toll the job takes. I am also always taken back by how active our “industry” is in fund raising for fellow telecommunicators or responders that are having issues or just the willingness to volunteer time to help in charitable causes or even to further the industry itself. The NG911 standards development process itself is a testament to volunteerism.

Additionally, telecommunicators are in the unique role of rarely seeing the results of their daily efforts and sacrifice. Unlike the EMT who revives a patient, or the law enforcement officer who prevents an altercation from escalating, those manning the phones rarely see the outcome of their efforts (whether positive or negative). It is for this reason, stress management is such a critical issue for telecommunicators. There is rarely closure on an incident.

Unfortunately, those serving in 9-1-1 rarely see the impact they have on those they are helping. As we approach National Telecommunicator week (April 10-16, 2016) and reflect on the profession, I’m glad to see the number of awards honoring those who go beyond the call of duty (shameless plug for our own Smart Telecommunicator awards), but I can’t help but think of all the lives impacted that our industry doesn’t know about or never hears from. Our engineering and services team loves to hear about how our products helped in a response. It is encouraging and motivating and I’m always getting pumped for more details. I work with a non-profit that helps expectant mothers. It is always a joy for the volunteers when those mothers come in and show off their new babies. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a better way for our telecommunicators to get some of that kind of feedback on the results of their efforts? Even if just a short optional survey at the end of a shift for the responders?

Even if we often don’t have the feedback that would be so encouraging, I’d like those of you who man the radios and phones to think about the legacy you passed on this week that you may never know about. The father that will come home to his family because of the rapid dispatch of EMS, the young woman that was safely removed from a violent situation because you recognized something wasn’t right in her voice, or maybe it was just a confused elderly caller that you coached to call a loved one who was able to help them. I’m sure the legacy you left on those families will be more impactful than a winning tip for blackjack.

Thanks for that excellent article Todd. It is something that we all should think about and consider in our daily jobs. The things we do today, may live on for decades to come, and we must set the ultimate example of best practices and procedures for those behind us to follow. To the tens of thousands of Public Safety Officials that provide us with a safe environment, to you I say, “Thank You”, your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. As a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of service, he directs the strategic roadmap for Next Generation Emergency Services in both the Enterprise and Government portfolios at Avaya. In 2014, Fletcher was made a member of the NENA Institute Board in the US, in 2014 – 2015 he served as co-chair of the EENA NG112 Committee in the European Union, providing valuable insight to State and Federal legislators globally driving forward both innovation and compliance.

This post initially appeared on Hank Hunt’s Facebook Page. For those of you that are a regular reader of my Blog, then you understand the close bond I have with this family and the true tragedy that is behind the situation.

A little girl who was 9, a mandatory telephone dial-out prefix of 9, and new laws that are sweeping the nation, state by state and now at the Federal level. Many have said over the years that “Laws exist for when ethics fail”. Unfortunately, that remains true even today, as this problem persisted for so long until legislative pressure created change.

I can assure you that for Hank Hunt, every day starts and ends with thoughts of his daughter. For me it’s an inspiration, for him, well I cannot even begin to imagine what it is. What I can do for him, is provide his voice a platform to speak to others, to get them to stop and think, not just about technology, but about themselves and doing the right thing. Hank writes:

When turning on the nightly news or picking up the local paper what are you looking for

Sports scores?
Obituaries?
National news or local news?

Who do you rely on to bring you the news about your surroundings?

What if one Sunday morning you made your cup of coffee, settled down in your favorite quiet spot, opened your morning paper to see a front page, above the headline fold a photo of the man that murdered your daughter?

Would you read it?
Fold the paper up and throw it away?

Or would you sit frozen, unable to move, a pounding in your chest when the headline suggests that this person is the “inspiration” for a law that will save lives?

That was me.

I actually knew the story would be coming out, I did not know it would give him credit for “inspiring” an initiative to save lives that is supported by many people the world over.

I say it again, he was not the inspiration for my actions concerning Kari’s Law; a law named for my daughter who was murdered in the most horrific way by the man the paper lends credit to for “inspiring” it.

He had no contribution to society the time I knew him and he doesn’t to this day.

Some have said it was my daughter Kari that was the inspiration for Kari’s Law. The fact that she paid the ultimate price for legislation that bears her name doesn’t negate the fact that, weird as it is, she was not the inspiration for Kari’s Law.

The inspiration for Kari’s Law still looks at me with eyes full of wonder and sometimes sadness. She is an active 11-year-old trying to move ahead in her life without her parents.

Put yourself in an 11-year-old child’s place, a child that at 9 years old witnessed her father murder her mother and knowing that she followed the “rules” and the “rules” failed her.

Just a few hours after my daughter’s death this nine-year-old little girl sat on my lap in the lobby of a Police Station and looked at me with eyes that will forever be emblazoned in my mind. Eyes that asked why and eyes that squarely put the blame on myself and every other adult in the United States.

Eyes that said, “ I did what you taught me to do, what my Mother, my teacher, my grandparents, the Police and The Fireman told me to do but it didn’t work.

“I tried 4 times Papa but it didn’t work”

What do you think I said?
Nothing….. what could I say; she was right.

We don’t teach children to dial a “9” first on a Multi-Line Telephone System such as those found in a Hotel or Motel, an office building, a SCHOOL or anywhere a prefix number such as 9 or 8 or 7 are required for an “outside” line.

Those aren’t the only things required by some places. I stayed at a hotel in Waco Texas that required the person using the hotel room phone to dial 6821 in an emergency. Who would that call? Even if you had an emergency would your “lessons” from the past automatically make you stop, look at the phone and “Learn” how this phone reaches 911?If you’re reading this then you probably know the story and I need not bore you with the rest.

The inspiration for Kari’s Law was a 9-year-old little girl that depended on her instruction from adults on how to handle an emergency, and those adults let her down.

Now, it’s the adults who MUST fix the mess they have created. 911 should be 911. If it isn’t available on any phone, anywhere, anytime then the instruction should be removed from every Police car, Fire Truck and Ambulance.

Hank Hunt, Kari’s Dad

My friends, there are a small handful of people in this world that truly impress and inspire me. I can tell you that Hank is close to the top of that list. No one would blame him if he crawled into a corner and cried away the rest of his time on Earth. Instead, he decided to promote change, make a difference, and most of all, DO THE RIGHT THING. I can tell you it is an honor and inspiration to know this man, and I appreciate all of the support that my friends have extended to him and his cause. For this, I can only say Thank You!.

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. As a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of service, he directs the strategic roadmap for Next Generation Emergency Services in both the Enterprise and Government portfolios at Avaya. In 2014, Fletcher was made a member of the NENA Institute Board in the US, in 2014 – 2015 he served as co-chair of the EENA NG112 Committee in the European Union, providing valuable insight to State and Federal legislators globally driving forward both innovation and compliance.

While I take great pride in writing my own blog posts, I do read quite a bit, and I often run across great content that I am inclined to share a little further than the ‘SHARE’ button. When I see those certain nuggets, I invite them to reiterate their thoughts on my little island in the vast interwebs and share them with my, dare I say, friends. With that, I give you the BEST thing I STOLE this Christmas, and that is the RAVE Mobile Safety Top 5 List of Public Safety Events for 2015.

It’s that time of year when we look back at the past year and forward to the next. To understand where we are going, it’s helpful to look at the road we’ve already traveled. In that spirit, here is a look back at the Top 5 Trends that had the biggest impact on Emergency communications in 2015.

Costly Failures

9-1-1 needs to work. This message was heard loud and clear by service providers when earlier this year, the FCC doled out fines totaling more than $20 million to Verizon Communications Inc., CenturyLink Inc. and Intrado Inc.. No technology is perfect, and occasionally issues happen, but the FCC’s aggressive response clearly showed that our public safety communication infrastructure needs not only redundancy at all steps but rigorous process and timely notification and visibility into corrective actions. As the industry moves to enhance networks, software and processes we can’t lose site of the difference between the cost of a consumer application not working and a public safety service not working. If an app “locks up”, a data connection drops, or a 10-digit call fails, we simply try again. We don’t really know or care why it didn’t work. It is simply a minor annoyance. It’s more than a minor annoyance when lives are at stake. 9-1-1 is different. It needs to work and we need to continue the process of continual improvement to build resiliency into the entire emergency call handling chain. It’s why we tell people to call 9-1-1 and not some other number.

Kari’s Law

While the tragic death of Kari Hunt Dunn was in 2013, 2015 was the year her impact on public safety was most felt. Starting with legislation in Suffolk County, Long Island, it spurred changes in the existing Illinois law, and new legislation in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas where it came to the attention of Congressman Louie Gohmert who filed a Bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would expand on the Texas law requiring direct dialing of 9-1-1 and on-site notification for multi-line telephone systems. The tireless work of the Hunt family and supporters like FCC Commissioner Pai and Avaya Public Safety Architect Mark Fletcher, ENP resulted in rapid action across the country. While the changes to the MLTS configurations are clearly needed, this event makes my Top 5 list because of the example set in turning a tragic event into trend to solve a “hidden” issue, resulting in untold lives saved in the future.

Location, Location, Location

I grew up with a mom who sold real estate. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve heard about how it is all about location. Well, that is true in 9-1-1 as well, and 2015 was the year the FCC took aggressive action to improve both visibility into the location information being provided to PSAPs as well as the quality of that data (especially indoors). In February 2015, The FCC issued enhanced locations standards. Following on the indoor location roadmap endorsed by NENA, APCO, and the 4 leading wireless carriers in late 2014, the rules drive improved location accuracy for indoor callers over the next 7 years. The carriers, the CTIA and ATIS took quick action in developing standards and moving aggressively towards improving location. While meeting the standards will take a mix of different technologies, an RFP has already been issued for the NEAD (National Emergency Address Database) which will provide location information on WiFi access points – a key part of the indoor location mix. While those of us in public safety always want things to move faster, the reality is that a national roll-out, of a public safety grade solution, done correctly, on the timeline required is an aggressive undertaking and I applaud the FCC for creating consensus and driving the process. Within a short time frame, we will begin to see vast improvements in indoor location accuracy delivered by the carriers to PSAPs.

FirstNet Drives Public Safety Investment

In December 2015, FirstNet’s board approved the Request for Proposal (RFP) to deploy the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) and directed management to take all necessary actions to release the RFP in early January. While this is clearly a huge step towards a first responder network, the work towards defining the NPSBN and the level of momentum sustained by FirstNet is why this made my list for 2015. A by-product of this effort is an increased level of interest and investment in public safety by both the venture capital community and established companies that have traditionally been active in tangential markets (e.g. federal, defense, health care). The level of innovation and resources brought by these companies can only serve to help improve the options we have available to us in providing better service and response to citizens.

Technology Adoption Marches On… and Into Public Safety

According to the CTIA, more than 47 percent of American homes use only cellphones, and 71 percent of people in their late 20s live in households with only cellphone. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center Study, “nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone, while just 12% of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell phone of any type”. To improve service and offload the rapidly growing network traffic, the carriers have begun enabling WiFi calling on mobile devices (see this blog post for our WiFi calling to 9-1-1 testing results and implications). Well known to any parent, Pew also reports that Facebook remains the most used social media site among American teens ages 13 to 17 with 71% of all teens using the site, even as half of teens use Instagram and four-in-ten use Snapchat. So what does this mean for PSAPs?

Already nearly 10% of the country gets additional data on calls from Smart911, regions are rapidly rolling out NG9-1-1 to facilitate new call types, and despite the worries of many about getting swamped with text messages, texting-to-911 is becoming common place across PSAPs. Social media is also creeping its way into public safety with an increasing number of fusion centers and crime centers actively monitoring social media. As communication trends evolve, so too will our emergency communications capabilities.

CLOSING FROM FLETCH:

Thanks so much to the folks at RAVE. A very innovative company with an eye on the future providing support and fresh new ideas to PSAPs across the country as we all strive to push forward to the Next Generation of 9-1-1 services becomes a reality.

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. As a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of service, he provides the strategic roadmap and direction of Next Generation Emergency Services in both the Enterprise and Government portfolios at Avaya. In 2014, Fletcher was made a member of the NENA Institute Board in the US, and is an active participant in EENA where he provides insight to State and Federal legislators globally driving forward best practices in both innovation and compliance.

It’s a slow night in town. Everyone is making their own work in the absence of calls, running LIDAR or catching up on paperwork, or maybe doing some community policing. Perhaps you’re driving around on patrol, eyes and ears open for what might otherwise be unseen, or maybe you’re just trying to stave off boredom at the hands of the “Q” word (whose name shall never be spoken in this blog.)

Suddenly, a hot or interesting call comes in. Doesn’t matter what it is – shooting, robbery in progress, vehicle pursuit, squirrels breaking into the local bank – it’s something, and it beats doing “nothing,” so you and everyone else on the shift within a reasonable distance of the call decide to head over to check it out and help. Maybe you tell your dispatcher that you’re going, maybe you don’t (hint: if your dispatcher doesn’t know where you are, neither does the ambulance.)

Suddenly, there are enough cruisers on scene to arrest the same individual multiple times over (take turns?) and therein lies a gigantic danger-factor increase that we must take a serious look at. So let’s talk about what happens as a result.

When More Isn’t Better
We all know from the Academy about the concept of contact-and-cover during a felony stop. One officer makes contact while the other provides cover in case things go sideways – a clear delineation of roles that allows us to each perform a specific set of tasks, because we each understand what we are supposed to do.

But what happens if you suddenly have 10 guys on scene? Are they all going to approach from a safe angle, or are you going to find that since they came from multiple places, some of them are converging from the other side, putting themselves in a crossfire pattern? What about the question of who does what – do you think that the contact-and-cover roles are still going to remain as clear when suddenly you have 8 more guys on scene who want to act because that’s what they’ve been trained to do?

The latter might work okay if you have a controlled scene, but if the brown stuff truly hits the fan, all that is going out the window. It’s nobody’s fault – the simple truth is that if that happens, you’re not going to be able to adequately communicate to each other because you will be too busy reacting. Unlike a public order platoon or other “planned mass response,” these unplanned multiple-officer responses often don’t have clear rules of engagement, either, because the threat is unknown and oftentimes not observable until the last second.

As we’ve seen in many unfortunate examples, the result of the decentralization of a response, and the attendant confusion, is that people may be shot who were not the intended targets, or other adverse consequences may arise out of the incident, because the crowd mentality reduces awareness of the actual level of action needed… in part, because we tend to go with what the guy next to us is doing.

The other side to this argument is, of course, that nobody “really” knows how many officers will be required to respond to a particular call – but that’s the reason why dispatchers exist and why they are so highly trained. There will be the 1% of calls that truly go sideways and need all hands on deck, but for the most part, dispatch will be able to get a sense of what’s going on and send out the appropriate number of officers to handle what is anticipated to be the situation.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, too: going because we have nothing else to do does happen with some frequency in many areas, and isn’t always because we “don’t know if something is going to go wrong”. We got into this job because we wanted to make a difference, for the most part, and sometimes just driving around, or doing paperwork, doesn’t really feel like it fits the bill, even though it does. (As the saying goes, you never know what you prevented just by being visible.)

Nothing Else WaitsTo flip around the argument that “you never know what will happen” justifies every patrol vehicle within a 25-mile radius going to a call that sounds busy or hot, consider that a call where large numbers of time-critical resources are actually needed could just as easily happen while you’re part of a 15-cruiser pileup on a residential street as a result.

What if your “hot” call is actually hot but part of it is mobile (e.g. fleeing felon, simultaneous related crime scenes, or – heaven forbid – an actual coordinated, multi-site terrorist attack), requiring resources in multiple locations all at once? All of the sudden, your self-dispatch has resulted in a scenario where your agency’s ability to adequately respond is negatively impacted, potentially resulting in death or bodily harm not only to civilians, but to other officers who may now be engaging a threat requiring more personnel.

It’s never as simple as “oh, I can get out if I need to,” by the way. Once you’re on a scene, either by dint of your cruiser not having jump jets to hop over the other 10 cars between you and the egress point, or because you’re now involved in the scene otherwise, it is very difficult to actually respond as rapidly as you could if you were not otherwise encumbered. Geographically, as well, you’re probably out of your normal sector and facing an increased response time even if you are the last car who pulled in and can get out.

The upshot of all of this is this: self-dispatching may seem like a good idea at the time, but in reality it actually hampers our ability to respond clearly and precisely to the reality of the call that we are faced with. There may be a few times where it actually helps, but for the most part it results in there being too many cooks in a kitchen where the wrong number of people can result in something far worse than being burned by mishandling a pot on the stove. If you can, remember that your own truly hot call may be just around the corner at any time, and that those who actually need you to prevent them from being consumed by an inferno are counting on your being there to extinguish the flames. That, in the end, is the true reason that we’re out here, and the greatest difference that we could ever make.

Greg Bogosian is certified as a Reserve/Intermittent Police Officer by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and spent twelve years working as an EMT-Basic, including four years as a field EMT and dispatcher for the City of Boston EMS. He was additionally a member of a Federal medical disaster relief team for ten years, with experience responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the pre-deployment of resources for Hurricane Ike. Greg currently has a passion for educating public safety professionals about matters which impact their lives every day, and welcomes feedback and suggestions in the spirit of ensuring that best practices make it out there for all to benefit from.

An AUDIO Version of this blog is available on SoundCloud.com, or you can listen live here:

Every so often I invite a guest blogger to contribute to my Podcast and Avaya CONNECTED Blog series. This week I want to turn the keyboard over to Barry Furey.

Barry Furey,

Barry has been involved in public safety for 45 years, having managed consolidated dispatch centers in four states, and serving as a volunteer fire officer in three. A Life Member and APCO Presidential Award winner, he served as Chair of both the APCO 2002 International Conference and the APCO Homeland Security Task Force. A Contributing Editor for Firehouse Magazine, management columnist for 9-1-1Magazine.com, and a member of the team at Firefighterclosecalls.com he is now CEO of Barry Furey Public Safety Training and Consulting, in Raleigh, NC.

This year has been an incredibly tough one for our profession

My thoughts go out to all my public safety friends who will be spending time with their “second family” on Thanksgiving, instead of home at the dinner table with kith and kin. This year has been an incredibly tough one for our profession, yet we still have reason to give thanks. Thanks for the spark of human spirit that enables and encourages individuals to continue the centuries’ old tradition of selfless service for the public good.

Recently, there’s been significant discussion, and even Internet memes, dealing with retail employees working on the holiday, and the sacrifices they make for the sake of pursuing a dollar. Some even point out that public safety professionals have worked every conceivable holiday for years without a grass roots outcry. Personally, I don’t think we should take offense that we are expected to always be there. It reinforces that in the mind of society our mission is far more important than that of the big box stores. You can always wait to get another X-box until tomorrow. You can never wait another minute to get emergency help.

What you do makes a difference every day of the year

So here’s a fervent prayer that between the burnt Butterballs, domestics, DUIs, and accidents you find time to reflect on the life path you have chosen – or to at least swallow a few warm bites before the next call. What you do makes a difference every day of the year. Happy Thanksgiving.

Lots of people are thankful for you!

Thanks very much for contributing that Blog, Barry. I genuinely appreciate the contribution. I often remember my days as a dispatcher at Sparta PD in New Jersey, back in the 80s. Dee Jones lived in Ogdensburg, the next town over, and one that we dispatched for. Without fail, every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, she would deliver a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings to whoever was dispatching, which was one of her many ways of saying “Thanks!;-)).

I still fondly remember the thanks she extended from her entire family, how this tradition and continued on for many years thereafter. To all my friends and colleagues in public safety, thanks very much for doing what you do; and for continuing despite the lack of appreciation and thanks that you normally get.

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. As a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of service, he provides the strategic roadmap and direction of Next Generation Emergency Services in both the Enterprise and Government portfolios at Avaya. In 2014, Fletcher was made a member of the NENA Institute Board in the US, where he provides insight to State and Federal legislators globally driving forward both innovation and compliance.

The following is a reposting from Kevin Willett who is the Founder of 911 CARES. This organization tries to provide support to 9-1-1 professionals after a tragedy, and is taking a huge part for the event that is playing out in Newtown, Connecticut. You can find out what YOU can do to support this effort by visiting them on the web at www.911cares.com

Kindness during tragedy.

BY: Kevin Willett

I am always struck with the spirit of America in the aftermath of trauma. I wanted to share a story from Friday. I had stopped by our offices at PSTC-911CARES just as the death toll was being reported in Newtown.

It was a punch in the gut. After thinking about the victims, families, responders and of course the dispatchers, I mentioned to a co-worker that “I bet those dispatchers have been sitting all morning and afternoon with no food or drink”. I know it seems silly but we give of ourselves and in the race to save lives, we forgo simple things like meals. After hours, your body needs the food to fuel performance.

I simply “googled” newtown connecticut pizza and got Carminuccio’s Pizza in Newtown. I called them and explained I wanted three of their most popular pizza pies delivered to the 9-1-1 dispatchers in Newtown. The gal that answered said they didn’t deliver. I explained what was happening and asked for an exception and if someone could maybe help bend the rules. There was a pause and then a “hell yes”. I gave Jaime my credit card number and my cell and thanked her. Done…..not quite.

In less than ten minutes I got a call back. Jaime explained she shared my call with her manager and that they were calling to let me know that my pies would be on the way in a bit and that they were promising that they would make sure the dispatchers got new pizzas, salads and whatever all day and night at NO CHARGE. They thanked us for giving them a way to help.

That is the best analogy for 911 CARES. People want to “help” or appreciate or honor or mourn. Dispatchers want to support their own. If you look at our Facebook page, you will see the many posts that are for there for the Connecticut Dispatchers to read. Newtown, Connecticut State Patrol and allied dispatch centers all worked together and though the death toll of 26 is hard to digest, there were over 580 people SAFELY evacuated. We MUST take any positive moment and celebrate that.

Mark J. Fletcher, ENP is the Chief Architect for Worldwide Public Safety Solutions at Avaya. As a seasoned professional with nearly 30 years of service, he provides the strategic roadmap and direction of Next Generation Emergency Services in both the Enterprise and Government portfolios at Avaya. In 2014, Fletcher was made a member of the NENA Institute Board in the US, and co-chair of the EENA NG112 Committee in the EU, where he provides insight to State and Federal legislators globally driving forward both innovation and compliance.